quite small ~ 3-4" each, and I THINK (I 'll have to check when I get home) that they are already de-boned. They aren't fresh, they are prepared (no head/no tails/gutted) and flash frozen, not optimal but they were on sale so...

When breading do you use an egg mixture as well or simply flour and fry?

I was thinking of frying bacon in a pan, set aside the bacon, then add the fish, shallots, garlic, salt, pepper, Paprika, (maybe Tabasco too) etc., once cooked remove the fish, wrap them in the reserved bacon and serve.

I'd like to expand the flavour spectrum a bit. What counterpoints garlic/onions/bacon well? Eggs? :D

I have this wonderful bag of head/tail removed smelt sitting in my freezer that I'd love to use. So far in my recipe search all I've come across are rather bland looking breaded/fried, brined/smoked offerings (not that I'm against smoking meat, I'd rather try something new) so I thought I'd ask here for any suggestions.

So, how do you think I should approach these? Is Frying the easiest way to get great flavours/flavour combinations from these little fish?

Hey everyone, I'm looking for a cookbook that isn't simply recipes, but instead explains the "How's & Whys" of fine cooking. Every book I've looked at seems to be all recipes or mostly recipes with small sections of "How to properly cut the fat off a _______ and what it does to the dish by removing it"

Essentially I'm looking for something more textbook style than cookbook. Any tried and true suggestions?